Obituary of Michael Vele Sr.

Michael Vele Sr. immigrated to the United States from Italy when he was nine years old with his mother and brother in 1939. He settled in Brooklyn with his three brothers and one sister. Growing up he discovered he had a gift for math and a love of aviation and went to LaGuardia school of aeronautics, and C.W. Post College. He graduated and eventually "landed" at Grumman Aerospace where he spent the bulk of his career. He retired as a Senior Space Systems Engineer. He was part of the team that put the first man on the moon, worked at mission control, and had a hand in the design and implantation of the Lunar Module, as well as the Space Shuttle. He worked on the E2C Hawkeye, F-14 Tomcat, A-6 Intruder, and Stealth Fighter, as well as Mosaic satellite design, and other notable projects. He also worked on classified projects, but was sworn to secrecy. He did all that while raising his three boys, Louis, Michael Jr., and Steven, with his wife Grace. His engineering work and innovation spanned generations of aircraft design and avionics, and his work on the space program is a historic, and wonderful legacy.